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Tickets are on sale now for the 6-day Academy Award®-Qualifying Indy Shorts International Film Festival. This year’s theme is “The Greatest Shorts on Earth,” with a carnival focus. “MovieMaker Magazine” named Indy Shorts one of the top 20 Best Short Film Festivals in the World for 2022.

Jessica Chapman, Director of Marketing at Heartland Film, joined us Thursday on “Life.Style.Live!” to share everything you need to know about this event that showcases 20 short films that are either by Hoosiers or filmed in Indiana.

With themes like Comedy, Horror, Romance, Animals, and Family Fun there’s truly a shorts program for everyone! They all run 40-minutes or less.

They had more than 3,000 film submissions and have selected 150 short films to be in the festival.

What to expect: 

Program Highlights: 

Tickets: 

For more information, click here.

THIS SEGMENT IS SPONSORED BY HEARTLAND FILM.

Hollywood’s biggest night is happening this Sunday, and the 94th Annual Academy Awards is creating so much buzz that Greg Sorvig of The Heartland Film Festival joined us to break it all down and share his thoughts on this year’s contenders. Here’s more from him:

Heartland Film hosts the Academy Award-qualifying Indy Shorts International Film Festival in July and the Heartland International Film Festival in October.

This year’s Oscar Nominations include three short films from Indy Shorts and six feature films from the Heartland Film Festival that received a total of 33 nominations!

The Heartland International Film Festival is known to host premieres of films! This past year we hosted the Midwest Premiere of six Oscar-nominated films. This means that if you came to our festival, you got to see these films before they were ever released in theaters or on streaming platforms.

Most nominations: 

“The Power of the Dog” with 12 nominations

Just because they have the most nominations doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily take home the most Oscars. Greg thinks Dune (10 nominations)

“The Power of the Dog” Power of the Dog had the Midwest Premiere at the Heartland International Film Festival

Best Picture: 

Gregs’s Pick is “Coda”

“Coda” won the Truly Moving Picture Award from Heartland Film

Best Actress:

Greg’s Pick is Kristen Stewart in “Spencer”

Out of all the categories, this might be the hardest one to predict and has caused the most buzz in the film industry.  

Kristen Stewart has not received many accolades yet for this role (like a Golden Globe or SAG Award), that would be good indicators that she would be taking home the Oscar. But her performance was incredible and many people are hoping this will be Kristen’s year.

This past year we hosted the Midwest Premiere of Spencer, so our audience saw this film in October, but it wasn’t released to the public until November. 

Best Actor:

Greg’s Pick is Will Smith in “King Richard”

This category might be the most clear cut, but incredibly strong

Will Smith appears to be the frontrunner. When I first saw the film last summer I thought he should be nominated

The Heartland International Film Festival also hosted the Midwest Premiere of King Richard in October. We honored Will Smith with the Pioneering Spirit Award and he thanked our audience with a record video that we showed before the film started.

The road to the Oscars® comes through Indy for short films too!

Indy Shorts is an Academy Award Qualifying Film Festival in all three short film categories.

This means our Grand Prize Winners in Narrative, Animation and Documentary categories can qualify for the Academy Awards. So the films you see at our festival can go on to the Oscars.

This year we had three short films from Indy Shorts go on to receive nominations.

MovieMaker Magazine also just honored Indy Shorts as one of the Top 20 Best Short Film Festivals in the World for 2022.

The Oscars air Sunday, March 27 at 8 p.m. on ABC.

You can see advance screenings of Oscar-contending films every year right here in Indy by attending the Heartland International Film Festival in October and the Indy Shorts International Film Festival in July!

For more information, visit HeartlandFilm.org.

The 10th Annual Best of Fest is back on March 4 & 5 at The Historic Artcraft Theatre!

You don’t want to miss this opportunity to catch four fan-favorite films from the 2021 Heartland Film Festival at Indy’s beautiful 100-year old theatre!

The cost of admission is $8, and members receive discounted tickets.

Greg Sorvig, artistic director of Heartland Film, joined us today to share previews of the films you can expect to see this weekend.

Films  

“The Rescue”   

Friday, March 4 at 7:30 PM  

#HIFF30 Audience Choice Documentary Award Winner  

Trailer: youtube.com/watch?v=v08sSDTuFYw  

“The Rescue” from National Geographic Documentary Films, chronicles the dramatic 2018 rescue of 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach, trapped deep inside a flooded cave. Academy Award-winning directors and producers E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin reveal the perilous world of cave diving, the bravery of the rescuers, and the dedication of an entire community that made great sacrifices to save these young boys.   

“Mission: Joy – Finding Happiness in Troubled Times”  

Saturday, March 5 at 2:30 PM   

Trailer: youtu.be/5BcLJtJCt38  

Academy Award®-winning director Louie Psihoyos teams up with co-director Peggy Callahan on “Mission: Joy – Finding Happiness in Troubled Times,” a documentary with unprecedented access to the unlikely friendship of two international icons who transcend religion: His Holiness the Dalai Lama & Archbishop Tutu. In their final joint mission, these self-described mischievous brothers give a master class in how to create joy in a world that was never easy for them.  

“The Falconer”  

Saturday, March 5ths at 5 PM  

#HIFF30 Best Premiere Narrative Feature Award Winner  

Trailer: youtube.com/watch?v=TgOZewcz1Ng  

Inspired by true events, two best friends, Tariq, an Omani boy, and Cai, a privileged Westerner, conspire to steal animals from the zoo and sell them on the black market to raise money for Tariq’s sister’s divorce from an abusive marriage. They are forced to wrestle with morally complex choices that reveal the vast distance between their worlds.  

“The Addict’s Wake”  

Saturday, March 5 at 7:30 PM   

#HIFF30 Audience Choice Indiana Spotlight Award Winner  

Trailer: vimeo.com/379296258  

Addiction devastates a rural community, yet its remarkable response to “Do Something” creates a pathway to hope and recovery. Filming nearly two years in Brown County, Indiana, the film captures a change that elevates the idea that the more connected we are to those around us, the more we heal and prosper.    

For more information visit, Heartland Film.org.

THIS SEGMENT IS SPONSORED BY HEARTLAND FILM.

You can find more from all of today’s “Life.Style.Live!” guests at the links below:

Jason Michael Thomas – Urban Awareness Gardens

JasonMichaelThomas.com

Best of Fest – Heartland Film

heartlandfilm.org

Rick Crosslin – Science Guy

youtube.com/channel/UCTUaGjswflD3xO4rzZ5KSeQ

Fur-Ever Friends from Hensley Legal Group

hensleylegal.com/fur-ever-friends

Red Carpet Beauty Secrets

TipsOnTV.com

The 30th Anniversary of Heartland International Film Festival officially opens with a screening of the new Julia Child documentary “Julia” (Sony Pictures Classics) at Newfields.

Jessica Chapman, marketing manager for Heartland Film, joined us today to share more about the event. Here’s more from her:

Since 1992, HIFF has grown from a four-day event to an internationally recognized 11-day festival. In that time, we’ve awarded $3.5 million in cash prizes (the most in North America) and showcased more than 2,000 films!  

From October 7 – 17, we’re “Rewinding 30 Years of Heartland Film” and pressing play on 143 independent films and big Hollywood sneak peeks like “King Richard” (Warner Bros. Pictures) starring Will Smith, “Spencer” (NEON) starring Kristen Stewart, and Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” (Searchlight Pictures). 

All films will be held at in-person screenings. Many, but not all, films will be available virtually. In-person screenings will be held at Living Room Theaters, Kan-Kan Cinema and Brasserie, Newfields, Indianapolis Arts Center (outdoor picnic-style), and the Historic Artcraft Theatre.

Film descriptions, fest passes, and tickets can be found at HeartlandFilmFestival.org. 

THIS SEGMENT IS SPONSORED BY HEARTLAND FILM FESTIVAL.

Tickets are now on sale for the 30th Anniversary of the Heartland International Film Festival!

Patty Spitler of Great Day TV joined us today along with, Greg Sorvig, artistic director of Heartland Film, to share what you can expect from the festival. Here’s more from them:

This is truly a breakthrough year as this is one of the first festivals in the world to showcase these award contenders. 

Heartland Film has announced a star-studded lineup of Event titles and 128 feature films – 10 World Premieres and 9 U.S, Premieres – for the 30th Anniversary of the Heartland Film International Film Festival (HIFF), running October 7 – 17.

In-theater screenings will be hosted at Kan-Kan Cinema & Brasserie, Living Room Theaters, Historic Artcraft Theatre, Newfields, and the Indianapolis Arts Center (outdoor picnic-style). All film selections will have in-person screenings and many of the films will also be available to view virtually.

“After three decades, the Heartland International Film Festival has cemented itself as a major awards season stop while continuing to showcase impactful independent features from around the world,” said Heartland Film Artistic Director Greg Sorvig. “Our team has worked hard to curate a program for this special milestone, and the caliber and variety of these titles will thrill both new and long-time attendees.” 

Hybrid Fest Passes and Ticket Packs are available.

Every one of our fourteen Event films has either premiered at Venice, Telluride or the Toronto Film Festival. (In past years we might have 2-3 Event films compared to 14 this year!) 

Telluride is one of the top festivals in the world and we have about a quarter of the films from their lineup which really speaks how our festival is growing in prominence. Indy has a lot to look forward to for our 30th Anniversary! 

Highlighting some Event titles:

Tickets, film lineup and schedule are available at HeartlandFilmFestival.org.

Heartland film celebrates 30 years with their upcoming festival which is opening soon. Julia Ricci, senior programmer for Heartland Film, joined us today to share what we can expect at the festival which is said feature their biggest films ever!

The festival will run from October 7 to 17. Tickets go on sale next Friday, September 17.

They’re featuring the most “Event titles in the history of the festival. Typically, they have 2-3 Event titles and this year we have 12! That means the films you see at the festival are some of the most anticipated films of the year and you’ll be some of the first in the world to see them.

All films will be available in-person, and some will be available virtually. “Event Titles” will only be in-person.

We’ve only announced 7 of the 12 “Event Titles” so far.

Event Titles Include:

OPENING NIGHT – “JULIA” / DIRECTORS: JULIE COHEN AND BETSY WEST / SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aon49topYHo

“Julia” from Sony Pictures Classics and Directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West, the team behind 2019 Academy Award® nominee “RBG,” is the 30th HIFF Opening Night Event title. Using never-before-seen archival footage, personal photos, first-person narratives, and cutting-edge, mouth-watering food cinematography, the film traces Julia Child’s surprising path, from her struggles to create and publish the revolutionary “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” (1961) which has sold more than 2.5 million copies to date, to her empowering story of a woman who found fame in her 50s, and her calling as an unlikely television sensation.

CENTERPIECE – “THE HUMANS” / DIRECTOR: STEPHEN KARAM / A24

“The Humans” from A24 and Director Stephen Karam is the 30th HIFF Centerpiece title. Based on Karam’s one-act play, this film adaptation marks his directorial debut and features an all-star cast of Beanie Feldstein, Jayne Houdyshell, Richard Jenkins, Amy Schumer, June Squibb, and Steven Yeun. Set inside a pre-war duplex in downtown Manhattan, “The Humans” follows the course of an evening in which the Blake family gathers to celebrate Thanksgiving. As darkness falls outside the crumbling building, mysterious things start to go bump in the night and family tensions reach a boiling point.  

CLOSING NIGHT – “THE ELECTRICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN” / DIRECTOR: WILL SHARPE / AMAZON STUDIOS

“The Electrical Life of Louis Wain” from Amazon Studios and Director Will Sharpe is the 30th HIFF Closing Night Event title, presented by the Betty and David Klapper Family Foundation. Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy star in the film about English artist Louis Wain, who rises to prominence at the end of the 19th century for his surreal cat paintings.

MUSIC EVENT – “JAGGED” / DIRECTOR: ALISON KLAYMAN / HBO DOCUMENTARY FILMS

“Jagged” from HBO Documentary Films and Director Alison Klayman is the 30th HIFF Music Event title. 1995 was the year of Alanis Morissette. Her groundbreaking album “Jagged Little Pill” delivered a rawness and emotional honesty that resonated with millions. “Jagged” explores how Alanis came to be that empowered woman so many admire, and what happens when a 21-year-old becomes a worldwide phenomenon.

SPOTLIGHT EVENT – “BERGMAN ISLAND” / DIRECTOR: MIA HANSEN-LØVE / IFC FILMS 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrlVHVid-20

“Bergman Island” from IFC Films and Director Mia Hansen-Løve is the 30th HIFF Spotlight Event title. The film follows a couple of American filmmakers, Chris (Vicky Krieps) and Tony (Tim Roth), who retreat to the mythical Fårö island for the summer. In this wild, breathtaking landscape where Ingmar Bergman lived and shot his most celebrated pieces, they hope to find inspiration for their upcoming films. As days spent separately pass by, the fascination for the island operates on Chris and souvenirs of her first love resurface. Lines between reality and fiction will then progressively blur and tear our couple even more apart. 

More information can be found at HeartlandFilm.org.

The Heartland Film Indy Shorts Film Festival has officially begun! Jessica Chapman, marketing manager for Heartland Film, joined us today to share what you can expect from this year’s event.

This year’s festival is running July 20-25, and they’re offering indoor (Living Room Theaters), outdoor picnic-style (Indianapolis Arts Center & IndyFringe) and virtual screening options to meet everyone’s comfort level!

We received more film submissions than ever – 3,300 and have nearly doubled the number of films selected from last year!

The festival’s theme is A Short Escape, and we’re inviting everyone to come away with us as we explore the wonderful world of 201 short films included in 33 themed programs!

With short programs like Comedy, Sci-fi, Horror, Portraits, Indiana Spotlight, Animals and Sports, there truly is a short for everyone!

For more information visit, IndyShorts.org.

The Indy Shorts Film Festival is less than two weeks away, and we want to help you prepare! Patty Spitler of Reel Life TV joined us with Julia Ricci, senior programmer for Heartland Film, to give share a preview of what to expect at the festival. Here’s more from them:

Purchase your tickets early to ensure you have a seat!  

Tickets and Fest Passes are now on sale at IndyShorts.org.

You can see more from Patty at ReelLife.TV.

THIS SEGMENT IS SPONSORED BY HEARTLAND FILM FESTIVAL.

The Indy Shorts International Film Festival has announced the largest slate of short films showcased at Indoor and Outdoor virtual screenings. Jessica Chapman, marketing manager for Heartland Film joined us today to share more on what you can expect.

This Heartland Film’s 4th Annual Academy Award®-Qualifying Indy Shorts International Film Festival! This year’s festival is running July 20-25, and they’re offering indoor (Living Room Theaters), outdoor picnic-style (Indianapolis Arts Center & IndyFringe) and virtual screening options to meet everyone’s comfort level!

They received more film submissions than ever, 3,300 and have nearly doubled the number of films selected from last year!  

The festival’s theme is A Short Escape, and they’re inviting everyone to come away with us as we explore the wonderful world of 201 short films included in 33 themed programs. With short programs like Comedy, Sci-fi, Horror, Portraits, Indiana Spotlight, Animals and Sports, there truly is a short for everyone. Tickets and Fest Passes are now on sale at IndyShorts.org!   

For more information visit, heartlandfilm.org and IndyShorts.org.